Van Hits Tractor-Trailer; 13 Killed

FIVE POINTS, Calif. (AP) - A van carrying farm workers slammed into a tractor-trailer rig on a remote farming road early today, killing 13 people in the van and seriously injuring two others.

The truck driver, who was not injured, was turning his rig around on the road after parking on the shoulder to sleep, said California Highway Patrol officer Eric Erickson.

The van "couldn't avoid hitting the tractor-trailer," Erickson said. "Their brakes locked up."

The tractor-trailer rig included two empty trailers, he said.

The accident happened shortly after 5 a.m., just southeast of this tiny town in Fresno County. The laborers had just gotten off work from sorting tomatoes in the fields, Erickson said.

The two injured people also were in the van, he said.

The injured survivors were taken to University Medical Center in Fresno - a 17-year-old girl in critical condition and a male in serious condition, said Michelle Van Valkenburg, a hospital spokeswoman.